Those ideas include expanding local and commuter bus service and building a commuter rail system from Garner to Durham. The plan would cost Wake County more than half a billion dollars. David Cooke serves as county manager and says experts will analyze transportation needs beyond just Wake County.

The Wake County Republican Party is opposing bond referendums for Raleigh transportation and public school construction projects.

Voters will decide in October whether to approve $75 million in improvements to sidewalks and roads as well as traffic calming projects in Raleigh. The Wake GOP executive committee says it voted to oppose that bond due to the city's accumulating debt.

After a year of success in Durham County, the state's first Bus on Shoulder System (BOSS) is ready to expand into Wake County. The North Carolina Department of Transportation allows transit buses to travel on the shoulders of designated stretches of roadways to bypass congested traffic, but only when speeds drop below 35 miles per hour.

The Wake County Justice Center opened officially yesterday in downtown Raleigh, combining the latest security measures with a high-tech, efficient design.

When visitors enter the main lobby of the Wake County Justice Center – after passing through airport-level security - they are greeted with an array of electronic message boards directing them to whatever government function they are seeking: 19 courtrooms, the Commissioners Board Room, District Attorney’s office, Register of Deeds, even a café. All of it in an 11-story building designed to achieve a LEED silver rating for environmental efficiency.

Wake County had to quickly shift mental health services to private providers

Behavioral health clinics in Wake County are shutting down today. That means about 2,000 people who have mental illnesses and rely on Medicaid are transitioning to treatment from private providers, but the county has been under a time crunch to transfer patients and some doctors worry theirs are falling through the cracks.

Margery Sved is a psychiatrist with Wake County Health and Human Services and one of 200 people who are being laid off today.

Tonight, the Wake County School Board will continue its discussions on hiring a superintendent.

It’s been more than two weeks since the three finalists for Wake Superintendent visited the district for a hectic few days of interviews and public appearances. Wake School Board Chair Keith Sutton initially indicated a new superintendent would be hired within a few days, but delays have pushed it back to tonight, at the earliest.

County officials have invested three years of construction and $184 million in their new government headquarters. Office workers have begun setting up in the facility. The county's Register of Deeds will the first to open its doors Wednesday.

County commissioners and city council members across the state turn their attention to their local budgets this week.

Many local governments are avoiding increases on property taxes as they craft their budgets for the next fiscal year. But they're also expecting less direct funding from the state and increasing some fees for services like solid waste or animal control.